• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About DNS
  • Subscribe to DNS
  • Advertise with DNS
  • Support DNS
  • Contact DNS

Disability News Service

the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues

  • Home
  • Independent Living
    • Arts, Culture and Sport
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Housing
    • Transport
  • Activism & Campaigning
  • Benefits & Poverty
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
You are here: Home / Politics / Labour faces legal action from disabled members over ‘institutional’ discrimination
A woman sitting in a wheelchair in front of an inaccessible platform

Labour faces legal action from disabled members over ‘institutional’ discrimination

By John Pring on 8th September 2022 Category: Politics

Listen

Disabled activists have warned Labour that it faces possible legal action if it continues to refuse to act to end years of disability discrimination against party members.

Senior figures in the party – including leader Keir Starmer, deputy leader Angela Rayner and general secretary David Evans – have been promising for years to take action to address concerns raised by disabled members about discrimination.

But Disability Labour, which is affiliated to the party, has now lost patience at the lack of action, and this week it accused Labour of being “institutionally disablist”, and issued a series of demands.

It called on the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to investigate the allegations, and it warned the party that legal action is likely to follow if it does not improve its treatment of its disabled members.

Disability Labour says it has received multiple complaints from its members that the party is rejecting requests for reasonable adjustments.

It has repeatedly offered to carry out disability equality training for the party at head office and regional level.

And it says that a response from the party’s Governance and Legal Unit (GLU) to one member’s request for a reasonable adjustment was “fundamentally flawed” and contradicted EHRC guidance.

The EHRC guidance (PDF) says the duty on political parties to make reasonable adjustments “is anticipatory” and that parties have a “positive and proactive duty to think about, and take steps to remove, any barriers which prevent disabled people from enjoying the rights and benefits that come with membership of the party”.

But in response to a complaint from a Constituency Labour Party (CLP) disability officer who had had a request for a reasonable adjustment rejected, Labour’s GLU claimed: “Insofar as the duty to make reasonable adjustments applies to associations such as the Labour Party, it is a reactive duty, rather than an anticipatory.”

For more than two years, Disability Labour chair Kathy Bole has been attending meetings of the party’s equalities sub-committee and has repeatedly presented it with a “long list of issues which prohibited disabled members from being able to participate fully in the party”.

These include a failure to make reasonable adjustments for members, meetings being held in inaccessible venues, discrimination within local CLPs, and the failure to commission disability equality training.

Many concerns relate to access at the party’s annual conferences, particularly those held in Brighton in 2017, 2019 and 2021.

Last year, Disability Labour received more than 100 complaints about access in the first two days of the conference.

At the party’s request, Disability Labour submitted a report on the problems at conference, but it says it received no response or feedback.

Disability Labour said this week that it continues to receive complaints from members on accessibility and discrimination within their local parties, including holding meetings in inaccessible venues, bullying, and reports of disabled members being subject to victimisation when making complaints.

Bole said: “Any disappointment I may have had at the lack of action by the party has turned into anger at the repeated refusal to accept that disabled members have a right to participate equally in political activity.

“Disability Labour continues to make offers of disability inclusion assistance and training to assist with eradicating ableism from the party.”

Disability Labour will be hosting a fringe meeting on the issue at this year’s annual conference in Liverpool.

Labour had not commented on the claims by noon today (Thursday).

Vicky Foxcroft, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, was not able to comment this week as she is unwell with Covid.

An EHRC spokesperson said: “People who are members of a political party and people wanting to be members must not be treated unfairly because they have a protected characteristic.

“The EHRC receives complaints each week about allegations of unlawful activity contrary to the Equality Act 2010.

“We consider each complaint carefully and take action where appropriate.”

Picture: An inaccessible platform at last year’s Labour conference in Brighton

 

A note from the editor:

Please consider making a voluntary financial contribution to support the work of DNS and allow it to continue producing independent, carefully-researched news stories that focus on the lives and rights of disabled people and their user-led organisations.

Please do not contribute if you cannot afford to do so, and please note that DNS is not a charity. It is run and owned by disabled journalist John Pring and has been from its launch in April 2009.

Thank you for anything you can do to support the work of DNS…

Share this post:

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on WhatsAppShare on Reddit

Tags: Angela Rayner Brighton David Evans Disability Labour Discrimination EHRC Keir Starmer Labour Reasonable adjustments

Related

Disability discrimination in Met police is ‘baked into the system’, says report
23rd March 2023
Labour ‘shares concerns’ about government’s work capability assessment plans
23rd March 2023
Labour-linked inquiry set to rule out scrapping care charges
9th March 2023

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to the free Access London Theatre Guide

Access

Latest Stories

Disability discrimination in Met police is ‘baked into the system’, says report

Evidence mounts of disability benefits white paper’s fatal flaws

Court orders second Jodey Whiting inquest to probe consequences of DWP’s actions

‘Nonsensical’ disability benefits white paper sparks return of Spartacus

Concern over expansion of supported internship scheme ‘with potential for exploitation’

Labour ‘shares concerns’ about government’s work capability assessment plans

‘Heartless’ reforms to disability benefits ‘defy logic’

DWP white paper offers mix of ‘human catastrophe’ and overdue reforms

DWP figures show 600,000 could be missing out on disability benefits

DLA ‘disallowances’ plummeted after death of Philippa Day, DWP figures show

Advice and Information

Readspeaker

Footer

The International Standard Serial Number for Disability News Service is: ISSN 2398-8924

  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site map
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 Disability News Service

Site development by A Bright Clear Web